Yuzuru Hanyu: 2016-17 Season

[YuzusHydroblade]

Found an article in Mainichi in which he talked about the effort he made for his 4S after 4CC. I thought its worth sharing so I translated, but I’m not sure my translation would convey what was written in Japanese. This article made me imagine how sad he was after the SP. Wish his effort will be rewarded in FS.

Here's my rough translation.
*Blue part is note by me, and purple part is where I’m a little bit unsure due to my lack of technical knowledge.
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Hanyu was focusing on one thing, to skate clean without making mistake on jumps, but he failed. “I’m very regretful” he said as if controlling his emotion.

What prevented him from achieving that was the combination jump starts with 4S. He seemed to have jumped nicely but the landing became shaky and he touched down on his left knee. After a pause he combined a 2T, but it wasn’t taken as a combination jump and he received a huge point deduction. “A mistake is a mistake.” He said. “I didn’t expect to land that way, but when I saw the replay I noticed that the axis of the jump tilted backward.”

At 4CC held in February he missed 4S both in short and long. At that time the curve going into the jump was more straight and the axis tilted forward. After the competition he received advises from a coach (or coaches?) and a former Olympian (or Olympians?) known as good jump coaches and worked on fixing the entrance, to draw a shallow curve with his left foot to be able to put his weight on the curve. As a reward, he could fully rotate the jump (in SP), but could not adjust the curve (to land properly.) “I wonder why I can’t make use of my experience. I’m very disappointed with myself.”

He received another point deduction for violating 30 seconds rule and became more than 10 points behind the leader. “The mistake on Salchow was costly. Basically you can’t make mistake in SP,” he said, but he can still make up for the mistake. “I want gold medal so I’m going to fix it.” In free program he will bet everything on the quad-Salchow which he will attempt twice.

At least he still is the Yuzuru who never gives up. I'm sad that he's disappointed at himself and ugh... He is not going to let go of that 4S3T lol, they need couple's therapy....

 

[Yatagarasu]

You sound as if you want him to quit...

Heavens no. I want him to stay as long as possible. Well until his health allows of course, and until he finds happiness and enjoyment in skating.

I'm just tired of the surrounding issues and I wish it were easier on him. There's a lot of that external stress that can be eliminated if people just stopped playing games. Of course, that doesn't apply only to Yuzuru. Take Boyang, another example of someone who is swimming against the tide. Blah.

 

[Danibellerika]

I don't think there will be someone like him for another few decades at least. Not in men's figure skating at least, and probably across all fields. When has men's figure skating ever been more popular than women's? Seriously, the stadium was packed today. Can't say the same for women's.

I was mentioning to my friend that the practice from this morning was nearly as well attended as the Pairs SP. She was astounded at my pictures. And that's just PRACTICE. I got up at 4am to make it there to get a good spot.

 

[Fayruza]

At least he still is the Yuzuru who never gives up. I'm sad that he's disappointed at himself and ugh... He is not going to let go of that 4S3T lol, they need couple's therapy....

Since it's him who wants the match, I think 4S3T had better give up and start to behave... he isn't the one to give up!

 

[Elaine666]

https://youtu.be/cN7YUY8NKBE
Interview with Charlie white

Probably the first time I dont fell akward seeing him speak English:cool2:Oh Charlie, I miss you so much

 

[Hannah555]

I was so busy today that I only found time to watch the last group and didn't have any minute to leave comment.
But before I go to sleep I have to say that for me he still was the best ! I don't know - it's just something in his energy and emotions that he lights up the crowd and millions of viewers around the world! Everyone who watched with me (not figure skating fans) were amazed by his performance.
And I will wake up tomorrow in a better mood because soon I will get to see him again )))) ..... (addicted)

 

[FTnoona]

And were is that rule written? Because I remember quite a few examples were that wasn't a reason to 'end' the combo.

http://static.isu.org/media/1001/tphb-singles-2016-2017.pdf

This one can be found on page 17 - It specifically speaks about the short program.
"Fall/step out or touch down with free foot with weight transfer after a jump plus another jump. If a skater falls of steps out on a jump and immediately after that executes another jump, the element will be called as follows: “First Jump + Second Jump* Combo.”

This one I think talks about combinations in general - found on page 16
"Touch down with the free foot without weight transfer. In case of a touch down with the free foot without weight transfer and up to 2 three turns or no turns between the jumps in a combination, the element remains a jump combination (however Judges will reduce the GOE because of error). In
case of more than 1 full revolution on the ice the call will be the jumps performed prior to this revolution + all the next jumps with an *combo in Short Program and sequence in Free Skating."

I've read that people said that his knee didn't touch the ice, but I can seem to find that written as the definition of transfer of weight. But I will admit that since it doesn't specifically say what constitutes as transfer of weight, that part is up to the tech caller to judge and ultimately up to the individual fan to judge if they deemed the call fair.

Edit: Sorry that this was a double post, while I was typing it up I hadn't realized someone already posted something similar.

 

[Fayruza]

Heavens no. I want him to stay as long as possible. Well until his health allows of course, and until he finds happiness and enjoyment in skating.

I'm just tired of the surrounding issues and I wish it were easier on him. There's a lot of that external stress that can be eliminated if people just stopped playing games. Of course, that doesn't apply only to Yuzuru. Take Boyang, another example of someone who is swimming against the tide. Blah.

Well, I think his strictest judge is himself. The tide he has to swim against is mostly within himself - which makes it more difficult.
Well, yes, his 4Lo and 3A deserved more - but otherwise his standing is around right. He's the one skater in the top six who didn't manage his combo and lost a lot of points there, after all.

 

[NordEsque]

First I would like to say that I think that the standings are justified after the short. Javier, Patrick and so on had great skates. I find the PCS scoring for some to be a bit difficult to defend though. The PCS rules are quite clear and contain quite a lot of requirements/elements.

I think a lot of judges will score a clean a well-paced easier program (PCS wise when I say easier) higher over a much more difficult one with a mistake, which is not justified according to the rules. It is also not something which has always been done and more importantly is not something which effects everyone equally. Perhaps human error due to an easier skate looks and gives off more of a feeling of a great skate. It can be mainly due to the fact that there are too many and complicated PCS aspects to judge properly, which is why I'm in favor of a more technical judging of PCS scores generally. I do not find this a reason to justify bad judging though, you cannot have rules and then not apply them properly - I think the judges need to be better trained. I also think that there are more problematic aspects as well which unfortunately works together with this...

I know very little of the behind-the-scenes stuff going on regarding judging and federations and so on. I do however know about stuff such as implicit bias, confirmation bias and 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' (very dramatic I know). What I want to say is basically that I believe that national bias from judges is definitely a thing. Explicit in some cases - people telling themselves "this is better for the sport" "everyone does it so I should help my skater" and in some cases it will be implicit: a judge will truly believe themselves to be objective but funnily enough always gives their skater more of a break when they make a mistake and will be quite harsh against their skater's opponents' mistakes. It is great that we have the system of removing the highest and lowest scores.

In combination with how specific PCS scoring is supposed to be despite the fact that several judges, probably in good faith, does not apply them as they should with these normal human biases I think that the judging becomes fairly problematic - not horribly so but not fair enough. Which is why the system needs to be looked at. I mean judges seemingly actually lacking knowledge of what difficult steps are, what constitutes good higher-body movement, one-foot skating and so on is not acceptable. Added to the fact that we have judges who have real stakes in how certain skater does (which is insane) makes it a perfect storm. There has been too many judges getting caught trying to bribe, exchange "votes" and so on for a system where that is the case to be justified. There are clearly systematic problems in judging, and perhaps (I hope) most of it is done in good faith and not by bad people with an agenda but that still makes it deeply problematic.

So sorry for long post, just wanted to get this off my chest, I'm not trying to claim that this is the absolute truth but I do believe that these issues makes judging problematic. And again, I think that the standings are justified so (I hope at least) I'm not just an uber trying to justify Yuzuru coming 5th. Feel very free to disagree with me, I honestly want to be wrong and I want judging to be less problematic than this.

For those who very understandably do not want to read this very long post, I'm basically saying: human error + lack of technical "checks" on PCS + national bias + cases where corrupt judges who actually tried to cheat are let back in = problematic judging. And also the standings after the short is in my mind justified.

 

[Ares]

I don't recognize the autor, but I found his twitter, I'm seriously thinking about asking him where he found these nonsense, because I've never read anything like that

Journalists often create their own BS stories, not only from tabloids.

 

[Elaine666]

I was mentioning to my friend that the practice from this morning was nearly as well attended as the Pairs SP. She was astounded at my pictures. And that's just PRACTICE. I got up at 4am to make it there to get a good spot.

Isn't it around 1am now in Helsinki? Take some rest dear.

 

[Danibellerika]

Isn't it around 1am now in Helsinki? Take some rest dear.

I wish I could. I'm doing schoolwork (well when I'm not on here). It's impossible to get it done with the other distractions and being at the other arena. Tomorrow is my crash day though. No tickets to ladies because it's sold out. Not going to ice dance. So I can sleep to my hearts content.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

If the contest was about whether the combo should be counted, here are the rules: http://static.isu.org/media/1001/tphb-singles-2016-2017.pdf

In a jump combination the landing foot of a jump is the take off foot of the next jump. One full revolution on the ice between the jumps (free foot can touch the ice, but no weight transfer) keeps the element in the frame of the definition of a jump combination.

He had his weight transferred before the 2T, so it was not counted. Nothing to do with other biases.

Sure, there are always hints of politicking and judges are humans, but to give them such a big role when there is a much more obvious explanation is just bordering on finding excuses. It would make more sense to do that if he was completely clean and doesn't score the highest.

The free leg came down and the weight stayed on his landing leg. So not clear cut at all.
And as I said, even if the rule was so clear, it usually is not applied. I mean the hilarity of you linking the file that includes 'the solo jump must come out of linking steps' for this. Can you find the linking steps of Nathan, Shoma or Boyang? (This is a trick question). They should all have an invalid element and get negative GOE. But they don't. And if Brendan Kerry does get that deduction, he has no right to complain, because that is what the rules say, even though he's an outlier in having it applied? Yeah, great.

And people are overestmating judges + tech panels role? Like, combined they give out every point ever? How much bigger could their role be?

 

[sallycinnamon]

I can't wait to read your opinions here, but it's been a long day and must get some sleep now.

I felt absolutely terrible, devastated and frustrated after his score came out and then I watched the other skaters after Yuzu. During Javi's program everything collapsed and I started to cry. A lot....(thank you narcissa for the support, you helped me a lot).
While I couldn't believe what happenned to the quad sal again, he tried to save it and didn't give up + afterwards his 3A was gorgeous as always. His PE didn't suffer from the mistake either. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I will be forever grateful that I was so fortunate that I had the chance to watch him skate his SP in person.

After the SP, we have waited for him at the media/VIP entrance, and saw him walking down the stairs inside (he was about 3-4m away from us). He looked tired and frustrated but very, very beautiful. I really wish we could have told him how much we love him and that to us he is the one and only champion. But it was so great that we could catch a glimpse of him.

What happenned, happenned, it is the past now. Of course we'll debate about scores, deductions, judges, combo of doom, but now we can't change anything at all.
It's been a rollercoaster of very high and very low emotions today and I feel really tired, but I want to save all my remaining energies to support him on Saturday. Go Yuzuru! We love you very much!

 

[beki]

I think this year was a success artistically. He took risks. LGC went a step beyond Parisian Walkways: could he go beyond displaying his cool, to playing the audience itself like an instrument? At first, no, and then resoundingly yes. What a good trick for an Olympic year.

Though H&L is a mixed lesson, he must have learned a lot from it. The idea of soft movements. What audiences will accept. Since it is a personal program: self-reflection, gratitude for the past and dreams for the future. I can't wait for Saturday.

And what can I say, I loved Notte Stellata from the moment I first saw it. There are only three swans: Oksana, Johnny and Yuzu. I can't wait for Sunday.

 

[Fresca]

The free leg came down and the weight stayed on his landing leg. So not clear cut at all.
And as I said, even if the rule was so clear, it usually is not applied. I mean the hilarity of you linking the file that includes 'the solo jump must come out of linking steps' for this. Can you find the linking steps of Nathan, Shoma or Boyang? (This is a trick question). They should all have an invalid element and get negative GOE. But they don't. And if Brendan Kerry does get that deduction, he has no right to complain, because that is what the rules say, even though he's an outlier in having it applied? Yeah, great.

And people are overestmating judges + tech panels role? Like, combined they give out every point ever? How much bigger could their role be?

I just rewatched his SP again. There was transfer of weight to the back and you can see him lean back into his landing leg. I must say though that I didn't have an issue with the deductions or his score but when you compared the combo deduction and the non-application of the linking steps rule and threw in the GOE/PCS granted to other skaters...yep other skaters were gifted and Yuzu was judged harshly in comparison (Javi got the same score on his step sequence as Patrick and Yuzu whut??). I still think he can make it up though.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I just rewatched his SP again. There was transfer of weight to the back and you can see him lean back into his landing leg. I must say though that I didn't have an issue with the deductions or his score but when you compared the combo deduction and the non-application of the linking steps rule and threw in the GOE/PCS granted to other skaters...yep other skaters were gifted and Yuzu was judged harshly in comparison (Javi got the same score on his step sequence as Patrick and Yuzu whut??). I still think he can make it up though.

Well, wouldn't we have to define 'weight transfer' then. Any weight? 50% weight? More than 50%? It definitely wasn't 50% of his weight. And if it's 'any weight', that applies to two-footed landings too, no? Do combinations always 'end' after two-footed landings? No. This looks about as well defined as any other FS rule: not at all and yes, the fact that Yuzu didn't get the benefit of the doubt, while others did, is my point

Edit: this discussion reminds me of Sochi, when Yuzu had his mistake on a 3F counted as a fall, while Patrick made literally the same mistake (on a 3A I think?) and didn't get the fall penalty. I watched it with 4 non FS fans, and they were ranting for hours about how they didn't get it, and how that made no sense and switched tone to "this is so biased, the Japanese Kid is being held down, best thing ever he won anyway". To this day, sometimes I get a question like "is the cute Sochi guy still winning over the judges darlings?" and I can't lie, I love it. They were so pissed
(On a negative note, one said that is why they could never watch this sport. So, yeah.)

 

[DiamondDust]

Well, wouldn't we have to define 'weight transfer' then. Any weight? 50% weight? More than 50%? It definitely wasn't 50% of his weight. And if it's 'any weight', that applies to two-footed landings too, no? Do combinations always 'end' after two-footed landings? No. This looks about as well defined as any other FS rule: not at all and yes, the fact that Yuzu didn't get the benefit of the doubt, while others did, is my point

Well Yuzuru is judged in some way different than the others I bet. If he's great judges will throw rewards at him but mistakes will be costly (like err that blasted combo).

Regarding that combo, if Yuzuru sticks with it, then he must love the challenge of it. May he nail it then in the Free.

But I wish Yuzuru a very good Free skate. Go Yuzuru Go!!!

 

[NordEsque]

Not sure why but I decided to calculate possible scores of Yuzuru's competitors to get an idea of how well Yuzu have to do on Saturday. I added the scores of everyone's short program's together with their best ever, not season's best, free skate score, since people generally seem to do better at Worlds. Don't take these numbers very seriously though - they do not reflect added quads and I also think that a lot of skaters might break their pb on Saturday (even if I, biased fan as I am, hope only Yuzu will do so )

So if anyone's interested

Uno: 102 + 195.69 = 297.69 (free skate score from GPF16, has since since added a quad)
Chen: 97.33 + 204 = 301.33 (4cc free skate, will possibly add a quad on Saturday)
Boyang: 98.64 + 191.38 = 290.02 (last season's free skate score though, has since added quads)
Chan: 102,13 + 203,99 = 306.12 (last season’s free skate score, has since added a quad sal)
Fernandez: 109,05 + 216,41 = 325.46 (last season’s free skate score, same number of quads)

Hanyu: 98,39 + 219,48 = 317.87 (GPF15 free skate score, has since added a quad)

I hope we will get to see a beautiful H&L on Saturday and more importantly no matter what happens; a Yuzuru who is happy with his skate

 

[alia jackson]

I hope Yuzu is sleeping and rest well tonight. Because it looks like the rest of us in Helsinki are still awake.

I'm glad to be able to see him live for the first time. He is gorgeous and everything apart from the combo was on point. He will be fighting in the LP and need all our support. Gambatte Yuzu